The offer from Zamalek for Ahmed Sobhi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The offer went to Ittihad this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Ramadan Tarek and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mahmoud Zaki trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Masr El Makasa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
He is 19, he is averaging 7.08, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Ramadan Tarek was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
78 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Masr El Makasa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fathy El Mohamady and Masr El Makasa agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mostafa Marwan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ahmed Sobhi did not need any: 7.97, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Ahly have kept their man, and Masr El Makasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Omar Hegazi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Ramadan El Wensh chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Masr El Makasa will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
A season average of 7.07 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Masr El Makasa know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Ramadan Tarek was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Ramadan El Wensh left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Belal Ateya is in the works
Player ratingsAhmed Sobhi beats them one at a time
The dugoutSalah Salah has become a man the manager trusts
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Masr El Makasa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Karim Yakan and Masr El Makasa agree another 1 years.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amr El Wensh is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ramadan El Wensh kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
94 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 11 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Ramadan Tarek and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mostafa Marwan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Masr El Makasa ran out of time with El Masry. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Karim Yakan and Masr El Makasa agree another 1 years.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Masr El Makasa people have started saying his name in the past tense.
He is 19, he is averaging 7.13, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Masr El Makasa have done the hard part with Wadi Degla, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Ahly have kept their man, and Masr El Makasa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Masr El Makasa are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I watch every Masr El Makasa game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at CR Belouizdad runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The clubs have shaken hands with Smouha; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Ramadan Tarek was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Masr El Makasa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mostafa Marwan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Masr El Makasa can pretend not to have heard.
The phone has started ringing about Mahmoud Warda again, and this time the name on the line is Petrojet. Masr El Makasa are listening politely and promising nothing.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Sporting CP keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mahmoud Warda and Masr El Makasa agree another 4 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Masr El Makasa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad31 May 2027
A season's verdict on Ahmed Sobhi: the best of his age
Masr El Makasa have a 18-year-old the division has just voted its finest young footballer. The club's next problem is that everybody else now knows it too.
A season average of 7.13 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Masr El Makasa know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Masr El Makasa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mostafa Marwan and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Masr El Makasa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Masr El Makasa they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Omar Fayed was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
Karim Warda falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Masr El Makasa told Fathy El Hadary something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutPrecious Agwu knocks on the manager’s door
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at El Dakhleya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Reda Mohamed commits to El Dakhleya for another 3 years.
Squad10 May 2027
Basem Ali falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at El Dakhleya will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.